Try Again
by toridoristring
Summary: Jay and Erika... their life as friends and maybe sometimes a little more. Just a bunch of times of romance, drama, friendship, and just plain cuteness! JAYERIKA. JOHNNYAVA in the near future. R&R!
1. Past

A/N - I decided to try something a little different. I'll say now that I don't like Isabelle that much. I'm a JayErika fan. This chapter has a lot of flashbacks in it. It's a lot of history before the show. I don't know if I got the ages right but I'm sure that I'm pretty close cuz in "Big Waves" they said that in the summer of '97 Jay was 19 and Erika was 13 so I based it off of that. Well that's enough of this. On with the story! Hope you like it! R&R!

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN SUMMERLAND OR ANY OF THE CHARACTERS. I ONLY OWN THE ONES I MADE UP!**

Chapter 1-

Erika was sitting on the beach when Jay walked up and sat down next to her. "Hey" he said quietly.

"Oh, hi." she hadn't been aware of his presence.

"What are you thinking about?" he asked.

"Nothing really."

"Come on Erika, I know you better than that. You always come to this spot on the beach when something's bothering you."

"You do know me well, don't you?" she replied sarcastically.

"So what is it?"

"Jay... 10 years."

"What?"

"10 years ago today."

"Oh Erika, I'm sorry..." he realized that she was referring to her father's surfing accident.

"No, it's okay... it was a long time ago... It's just whenever I'm on the beach I feel like he's right next to me."

"Come here." he grabbed her and wrapped her up in a big bear hug. She smiled.

"Now there's the Erika I know." he smiled back at her.

Further down on the beach, someone was watching their encounter. Isabelle glared at Erika. She knew that Erika and Jay had had a long history together although she didn't know many of the details, but she was afriad that maybe Erika still had feelings for Jay. She just hoped she didn't because Isabelle knew that between her and Erika, Jay would choose Erika.

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/ June, 1992 \\\ Austrailia /

"Jay! Are you ready to go!" Mark Robertson called upstairs to his son.

"Just a second dad!" About a minute later Jay appeared on the staircase lugging quite a few bags.

"Okay! Let's go!"

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"Bye big brother." Jay's sister gave him a hug as he was about to board the plane. His whole family had tears in their eyes.

"Look at my baby... moving to the states to become a great surfer."

"Mom!"

"I'm proud of you son. I hear that John Spalding is a great teacher." He gave his son a hug.

"He's one of the best!" Jay exclaimed. He heard his flight announced. "Well... I guess this is it..." he gave his family another round of hugs and then headed towards the gate. He handed the man his boarding pass and turned to take one final look at his family. He smiled and waved and then turned to head into the plane.

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/ Playa Linda, California, USA \\\

Jay reached the airport at about 3:00 PM. When he got outside the plane, nothing looked familiar. He would be starting a whole new life. Next, he had to find the man that he would be living with for the next few years of his life. He saw a man holding a sign that said 'Jay Robertson' and Jay headed towards him. "Hi, I'm Jay," he quickly introduced himself.

"Mr. Livingston, I'll be giving you a ride to the Spalding residence." the man quickly grabbed 3 of Jay's bags, and started walking towards the car.

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When they got to the house Jay looked around. It was a fairly large house. He thought that maybe pro surfing could make money, because this family sure looked like they had some. The house was on the beach, and it had a beautiful view. Jay knew he was going to love living there. Mr. Livingston pulled out his keys and opened the door.

The inside of the house was even nicer than the outside. The decor was very tasteful, with paintings and plants lining most of the walls. Jay wondered how much the house must have cost. "So this is Jay Robertson!" a man looking a little over 30 appeared at the top of the staircase. He bagan to walk down. He was about 5' 11" tall and he had dark dark hair.

"Mr. Spalding?" Jay was excited

"That's me. So how was your flight?"

"Long, but it was good."

"I can imagine-" Mr. Spalding was cutoff by the entrance of another person. A small girl with dark hair came running through the door in her wetsuit.

"Dad! The waves were awesome today!-" She spotted Jay, "Who's he?"

"Erika honey, this is Jay Robertson, tho one I was telling you about. Jay, this is my daughter Erika."

"Hi," he smiled at her, "how old are you?"

"Eight." she replied smiling back.

"Oh. I'm 14."

"Cool. I want to be 14." Jay looked at the pained look on Mr. Spalding's face probaably from the thought of having a teenager. He laughed.

"It'll come."

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/August 1995\\\Playa Linda/

"Hey there hotstuff!" Jay ran up to an 11-year old Erika. "Has he gone yet?"

"No he's up next" They were talking about Erika's dad, for he was about to surf in a competition.

"NEXT UP IS JOHN 'HOTSTUFF' SPALDING" the man announced. He ran out to surf. After waiting for some waves he finally found the o ne he wanted. "He's up! Woah! Awesome move out there!" the man said again.

"Go daddy!" Erika called. Jay yelled. All of a sudden they saw Mr. Spalding fall off his board. "Awww!" Erika didn't know what really happened. She just thought he fell. When he didn't come up the crowd grew uneasy. "Daddy!" Erika ran out to the water. The rescue squad raced out to where he went under. One of the men dove in and after searching for a minute, finally pulled him up and the brought him to the shore.

He was unconscious and they placed him in the sand. He was still breathing, but his head was bleeding rapidly. Erika kneeled down beside her father. "Daddy wake up!" she yelled. "Daddy!" She began to cry uncontrollably. Jay came up beside her and just stared at his teacher.

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/September 1997\\\Playa Linda/

Erika, now 13, once again was standing on the beach watching as one of her favorite surfers ran out to catch a wave. "HERE'S JAY ROBERTSON! He's a young surfer, age 19, and he's already known worldwide as Reefbreaker. Let's see what he's got in store for us today." the man on themicrophone yelled. Erika just kept screaming as he got up on his board and caught a wave. He was about to do a 360 when his board flipped.

"JAY!" Erika yelled. The rescue men pulled him out of the water and brought him up to the sand. He wasn't awake when Erika ran up to him. She was crying. Erika was afraid that her nightmare was coming true. She couldn't go through the pain again. "Please no," she kept saying. The ambulance came and they took Jay to the hospital. They let Erika join him.

After a few hours of waiting in the hospital, news came that Jay had woken up. He wanted to see Erika. She went into his room, nervous of what he looked like. His leg was in a cast, but that was pretty much it. "Jay, you scared me back there." she said quietly.

"I know... I'm sorry." he didn't look at her.

"It's okay. I'm just glad you're alright." she gave a small smile. He looked over at her.

"You know what I was thinking about when I was unconscious?"

"What?"

"You." she looked confused. "I didn't want to hurt you... I wanted to see you again... I care about you Erika." he said sweetly. She got up and walked over to him.

"I care about you too." she smiled again. She couldn't resist anymore, so she leaned in and kissed him. He didn't pull away like she had expected him to. He returned the act of affection. She pulled away and crawled in next to him on the hospital bed. She rested her head on his shoulder and slowly drifted off to sleep.

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/May 2003\\\

Erika walked into the surfshop to visit her boyfriend, Jay. She was 19 now so it was legal for her and Jay, who was 24, to act like couple in public. They were always seen cuddling and kissing. They seemed like the perfect couple. "Hey babe." he called to her.

"Hey. You busy?"

"Yeah kind of." he said as he gestured to the board he was shaping. She pouted. Then she walked up behind him and put her arms around his waist. "Sorry, but I gotta work."

"Fine." she was about to turn to leave when he stopped working on his board. He turned to face her.

"How about this... you meet me at Spanish Cove tonight at 8:00 sharp. hmm...?" he said with a smirk.

"Mmm... I like that idea. Fine, I'll be there." She ran up to him and gave him a quick peck on the cheek and ran out the door as he returned to the board.

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It was 8:30 and Erika was still in the caves waiting for Jay. She had been there at 8 like he had told her to be. Actually she got there at 7:50. She knew Jay had a thing for being late, but he was never this late. She decided to wait 15 more minutes and if he didn't come she would just leave. When he still hadn't come, she wondered where he was. It wasn't like him to just leave her like this. She became afraid that something had happened to him, but the odds of that were unlikely. Dissappointedly she finally decided to head out to the promenade to see if he was in the shop.

When she got there she saw that it was locked up and the sign read 'Closed'. She gave up looking for him and decided to head across the way for a smoothie. Once she got it she began to walk down the promenade. She saw her friend Krystal making out with some guy. Erika didn't think she had a boyfriend. She figured that it was just a fling. When she got closer her heart stopped. "JAY?"

"Huh?" he looked away from Krystal. "Erika?" she had tears running down her face.

"What are you doing? How could you do this to me?" she screamed.

"Erika I'm sorry! I didn't mean for this to happen!" he said.

"Don't appologize!" she screamed again, "I trusted you..." she said just loudly enough for him to hear. He ran up to her and grabbed her arm.

"Erika, listen I-"

"Jay don't touch me!" she shook him off and began to walk away. He ran up to her and put his hand on her shoulder. She turned toward him. He looked at her with pleading eyes. "Stay away from me." she said coldly. She quickly turned and stormed off.

A/N- Did u like it? next chapters will be present time. Reviews are greatly apprecciated!


	2. Smiles

A/N- Here's the next chapter. Hope you like it. Oh yeah just so you know... Isabelle is not pregnant in the fanfic. Okay on with the story!

Chapter 2-

Jay was doing an inventory check in the surf shop when Isabelle walked in. "Hey honey." she said.

"Hey. What's up babe?"

"Oh nothing." He eyed her suspiciously. "Actually yeah... what's the deal with you and that Erika girl?"

"What?"

"I saw you guys talking on the beach... I got a little curious." she said innocently.

"You were spying on us?" Jay was beginning to get angry.

"No, no, no. That's not it." Isabelle replied as she put her hand on his shoulder. "I just... I just know you guys have a history..."

"Our history is in the past Isabelle." He stared at her.

"But you guys are over, right? Completely over." she looked at him hopefully.

"I have you babe. Me and her, we're just friends." It pained him to say that they were only friends, but he didn't show it.

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Jay was still in the surf shop when Bradin and Erika came to see him. Bradin and Erika had had another fling, longer than the first. Bradin broke it off saying that he loved her, but he had a feeling that she might not feel the same. He figured that the sooner he accepted it, the closer they could really be. Jay looked at them suspiciously all the same. He could never tell with them. One second they could be smiling and laughing and the next, making out at Spanish Cove. Bradin and Erika looked at each other awkwardly and Bradin quickly started working.

"Hey." Jay acknowledged them both.

"Hey." Erika replied. Bradin had gone into the back when either of them spoke again.

"You feeling better?" he asked.

"Yeah." she was only half telling the truth, but this time Jay didn't catch on.

"Good because Ihate seeing you upset." hesmiled at her.

"Jay?"

"Yeah?" he looked up at her again. She just loved looking into his eyes. Whenever he looked at her she felt all her worrys go away. She didn't know it, but he loved looking at her. She was so beautiful to him.

"You're a really great person. You know that right?" she smiled at him.

"Erika..."

"No really Jay. You've always been there when I needed you most. I really apprecciate you being there. I'm so glad that we're friends." He frowned when she said 'friends', but he smiled again before she could see. "I have to go. Lessons." She said.

"Wait Erika. Come here." she walked over to him. He gave her hug and squeezed her extra hard.

"Stop it!" she said through giggles. When he let her go she started to walk towards the door. "Bye." she turned to give him one last smile and then she left.

When Erika was walking down the pier, she spotted her friends sitting at a table. She went over and joined them. "Why the large smile?" her friend Christy asked her.

"Nothing." Erika replied casually.

"Well Julie here saw you leaving Jay's shop a few minutes ago, right?" Julie, who was also at the table, nodded. "So did you and him have a little mouth to mouth?" she wiggled her eyebrows suggestively.

"No you guys, it's not like that..." she said innocently.

"Sure it isn't... Erika your reputation toatlly goes against you on that one."

"I know, but I've changed. Besides, Jay has a girlfriend... Isabelle." she said longingly. She wanted so badly to be the one with Jay, but she wouldn't tell anyone that.

"His reputation goes against him on that one too." Julie pointed out.

"Look, we weren't kissing or anything... we were just talking." Erika explained.

"Talking... riiiiiight." Christy said jokingly.

"Fine. You guys can believe what you want. Let's go get some ice cream." The rest of the girls agreed and they got up from their table to head over to the ice cream shop.

Once they left. Someone got up from the table that was next to the one the girls had been occupying. That person had been listening to their conversation about Erika and Jay. She went over to the surf shop to visit a friend. She opened the door and headed towards the back.

"Hey." she said.

"Oh hey Isabelle!" Jay replied.


	3. I Have To

Chapter 3-

"So... I was sitting at the pier today when Erika and her friends sat down." Isabelle started.

"Okay..." Jay had no idea where she was going with her story because he had just seen Erika.

"They were having an interesting conversation." she knew that the next part would be hard, but she had to do it if she wanted to keep Jay.

"About?"

"Look Jay, I don't want you to see her anymore." she looked at her feet as she said it, but then she looked him in the eyes.

"What?" he was extremely surprised and hurt.

"I said I don't want you seeing Erika anymore."

"And why not?" Jay was filled with annoyance and anger. How could Isabelle ask him to do that?

"Because... I don't want to lose you. I don't want you to leave me for a lost cause." she knew that Erika wasn't a lost cause, but she didn't want Jay to figure that out yet. "If you want us to be happy together, you have to do this." she stated.

"I'm sorry... I have to go." Jay quickly said and rushed out the door.

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Jay had gone down to the beach to think about what Isabelle was asking him. He just had to think. Although it hurt him, he decided that Erika was out of his reach. She would probably never take him back, and no matter how he felt about her, they would never end up together. Isabelle was amazing, but she wasn't Erika. He needed somebody though. He couldn't go on being lonely, he had to do it for himself. Not just for Isabelle.

While he was thinking, Isabelle came up behind him. "Hi." he jut looked up at her. "I'm sorry-"

"No Isabelle." he cut her off as he stood up. "I've been thinking... and I'd do anything to be with you... so..." he said emotionlessly.

"Jay..."

"I want to be with you and if I have to stop seeing Erika, well..." his face was almost completely vacant except for the happiness that he was faking. Isabelle noticed it, but she wanted Jay so badly.

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Jay was sitting on his bad silently when Erika came in. "Hey Jay." Erika said cheerfully.

"Erika... hi." he was hoping that the moment wasn't going to come, but here it was.

"What's wrong? You seem... upset." she asked with concern in her voice. He loved it when she sounded like that.

"Um... Erika... I was talking to Isabelle and... well... she asked for me to not see you anymore." He said looking away from her.

"What do you mean?"

"I can't hang out with you anymore..." he began to look at the ceiling.

"So... we can't be friends anymore, because Isabelle told you we can't" she was fighting back her tears and her rage.

"I'm sorryErika... You have to understand-" Jay pleaded.

"No that's okay Jay. I understand alright." she said coldly and emotionlessly. She just turned and walked out of the room. Once she was out on the beach she let her tears come out.

A/N- Hope you liked it. I tried to add drama. Don't worry... this IS a Jay/Erika story so more coming soon! R&R!


	4. Hard

Chapter 4-

A couple weeks later Erika was walking with Bradin up to her apartment. Bradin knew about Jay's request and he noticed Erika's change in behavior. She was a lot quieter and she seemed to always be sad. She smiled around Bradin, but otherwise her smile was gone. She started partying and coming home drunk more. It was two of the hardest weeks of her life. Many nights were spent lonely with her lying on her bed, letting silent tears fall. Not seeing Jay was tearing her apart.

When they got to the door, Bradin noticed a note taped to her front door. "What's this?" he asked.

"I don't know." Erika replied as she removed the note. She unfolded it and read it over. "Great." she said as she opened the door.

"What'd it say?"

"They're raising my rent." she said as she threw her keys down onto a table. "I had hardly any spending money before."

"I can lend you some money if you need it." Bradin offered. His lawsuit with the surf company turned out well in his favor. He still had plenty of money.

"Thanks Kansas, but I'd rather earn the money myself." she replied.

"Okay... but if really need it... feel free to ask." he said, concern in his voice. He looked at his watch. "I have to go. My shift starts in 8 minutes at the Surf-" he stopped himself. He didn't want to remind Erika of Jay.

"It's okay. You can say it you know." Erika noticed his slip-up and although it hurt to think of Jay, she tried to act like the whole situation was cool with her. Bradin left and Erika jumped on her bed to wallow in her misery.

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When Bradin arrived at the surf shop Jay was doing an inventory check. "You're late." Jay said, not even looking up from his clipboard.

"I'm sorry. I lost track of time. Besides, I'm less than 10 minutes late." Bradin replied as he started working.

"Well, if you lost track of time, where were you?"Jay had lost his sense of humor since he had stopped seeing Erika. He too was in pretty bad shape ever since the day he told Erika that they couldn't see each other anymore. He still had Isabelle, but it wasn't the same. He'd rather have Erika as only a friend he now realized, but after the way Erika just stormed out he knew that his chances of having her as a friend were gone too. He didn't know of Erika's bad condition as she didn't know of his. He did often see her partying on the beach all over some guy with her friends, but he never went over to her. Seeing her with other guys hurt, but not as much as not seeing her at all.

"I was surfing." Bradin responded.

"Alone?" Jay had told Bradin about surfing alone before, but he knew how Bradin could be too.

"No." Bradin replied shortly. Bradin knew of Jay's condition too and he didn't want to mention Erika, but he couldn't lie to Jay.

"So who were you with?" Jay asked.

"A friend." By the look on Bradin's face, Jay could tell who the 'friend' was.

"Just get to work." Jay said shortly, before going into the back.

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Erika was walking on the beach thinking about money. She didn't have enough. She'd have to get a new, less expensive, apartment. She didn't want to move again. She'd moved many times over the past year, and finding apartments was getting harder and harder. It was extremely hard to find the one she was currently in. There was one other option. She could get another job. No places were hiring though. She already had her job at Mona's Sandbar. There was one other place that she knew was always hiring. She didn't want to go there and she knew that it would hurt to go there. But she had to. She looked up towards the promenade and started walking.

A/N- I know it's kinda short, but I thought this would be a good place to stop. Um... some JohnnyAva coming up in the near future! but this is still a JayErika based fanfic. Hope you liked it. REMEMBER TO REVIEW!


	5. It's Over

Chapter 5-

Jay was in the back room when Erika entered the surf shop. "Erika, what are you doing here?" Bradin asked.

"I need a favor from Jay." she replied quietly.

"Okay Bradin, I need you to clean off the shelves in the back." Jay said as he came out to the front. "Erika..." he became aware of her prescence.

"Bradin..." she gestured for him to leave.

"I'm... gonna go get a smoothie." Bradin stated as he left the surf shop.

"Look, Jay, before you say anything, I need to ask you a huge favor."

"Okay..." he replied uncomfortably.

"Look... I need a job. I really need the money. The rent went up at my apartment." she pleaded.

"Erika..." he knew that she needed it, but what would Isabelle say.

"Jay... I really need this. I wouldn't be asking you if I didn't. No other places are hiring. I'll stay out of your way and as soon as I find somewhere else to work I'll leave."

"Ok."

"Really?"

"Yeah." he knew he shouldn't, but forget Isabelle. Erika really needed him. It would be hard seeing her everyday and not being able to talk to her, but he wanted to help. "You start tomorrow."

"Thank you Jay." she said as she left.

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_Ding Dong_. Isabelle went to the door. "Hey." she said as she opened the door.

"Hey baby." Jay replied.

"What're you doing here?"

"Just stopping by to say hi." he said, fake happiness in his voice. She eyed him suspiciously. "Okay... I gave Erika a job." he looked down at his feet as he said it.

"What? Why was she asking you for a job?"

"Because she really needed it." Jay tried to explain.

"... so you guys will be working together." Isabelle's worries started to come back.

"Yeah I guess, but she only has a part-time job. She's still working at Mona's Sandbar." Jay replied, looking at his feet. Isabelle had to get something off her chest.

"Jay, look at me." he looked up at her. "I just have to know the truth. If you had to choose between me and Erika... who would you pick."

"Baby..." she looked him in the eye.

"Jay... tell the truth." she said, fighting back tears.

"Erika and I are done. She'd never take me back anyways." Jay knew who he would choose, but he couldn't hurt Isabelle.

"But if you weren't... who?" Jay stayed silent this time. "I had a feeling that's who you would choose. Listen Jay, I know how much you're hurting since you stopped seeing her. I can see it."

"Isabelle..."

"Jay, I can't be with you anymore, seeing your hurt, knowing you'd rather be with her." She looked out her window as she said this.

"Idon't..."

"Jay... just go... we're over." she said quietly. As he headed towards the door, she added,"Oh, and just so you know... Erika might not be that much of a lost cause." He looked at her and she smiled.

"Thank you," he said quietly. "Bye." he turned back towards the door, and left.

A/N - hey, I hope you liked it. I'll try to update again soon. REVIEW!


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